Chemotherapy drugs that target a common mutation in colorectal cancer rapidly lose efficacy in patients, leading to relapse. According to a new preclinical study by Weill Cornell Medicine and MD Anderson Cancer Center investigators, colorectal tumors often find multiple ways to survive treatment, including additional genetic mutations and activation of cellular pathways typically associated with inflammation and regeneration. Targeting this tumor-specific inflammatory process could enhance the efficacy of some anticancer therapies and prevent drug resistance.

G protein-coupled receptors sit in the plasma membrane, the boundary that defines the inside and outside of a living cell. They communicate with nearly every physiological process in our bodies, from the ability to see and smell, to sensing of adrenaline, insulin, nutrients and medicines. Researchers now report using AI to create tiny, computationally designed proteins to activate or block G protein-coupled receptors. The methods used in their study may form a roadmap for future efforts to create new drug candidates for metabolic, inflammatory, and neurological diseases. These approaches would try to target G protein-coupled receptors that have been largely inaccessible to conventional drug discovery.  

The UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science (UMCCTS) has been awarded a seven-year, $50 million renewal of its Clinical and Translational Sciences Award, along with an associated K12 Scholar program, from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.

Phillip Tai, PhD, received a $1.6 million grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to investigate the basic mechanisms of adeno-associated viral vectors (AAV) using high-resolution DNA sequencing technology. These findings could potentially lead to new vector designs that improve the safety of gene therapy treatments.

A new cardiac magnetic resonance imaging-based measurement may improve how physicians assess a common heart valve condition, according to a study led by Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators. The findings support the broader use and further study of the new metric known as effective right ventricular ejection fraction (eRVEF).